Poll: Younger Christians less supportive of the death penalty

By Marc Hyden A recent article published by the Religion News Service discussed how support for capital punishment among Christians is declining. Citing a recent poll, author Jonathan Merritt said, When asked if they agreed that “the government should have the option to execute the worst criminals,” 42 percent of self-identified Christian boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, said “yes.” Only 32 percent of self-identified Christian millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, said the same thing. The study went even further, And what of that age-old question, “What would Jesus do?” According to the Barna study, only 5 percent of Americans believe that Jesus would support government’s ability to execute the worst criminals. Two percent of Catholics, 8 percent of Protestants, and 10 percent of practicing Christians said their faith’s founder would offer his support.